


I Will See You in the Meeting

by Rosengale



Category: Naruto
Genre: Other, Somewhat canon divergent, you can decide for yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 13:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12300201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosengale/pseuds/Rosengale
Summary: Mikoto hugged him tightly, burying her face in his hair. “We got a little too emotional over me going to a meeting huh, Sasuke? I'm just going away for a while silly, there's no farewell here,” her words came out muffled.“It's just a ‘see you later.’”





	I Will See You in the Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally written for Sasuke week on tumblr. Unfortunately I did not get to contribute at all due to school and stuff, but I worked on this fic all week with the third days prompt in mind: bonds. 
> 
> My favorite bonds for Sasuke are the ones he has with Naruto and Itachi, mostly because they were the ones that were the most impactful for him as a character. However, though I would have loved to write a fic focusing on one of these bonds, I wanted to explore his bond with his mother more in depth. Mikoto is a character that I am forever salty Kishi didn't elaborate on, so I made her the central character in this fic along with Sasuke.
> 
> I also sprinkled in some Narusasu lol but only if you squint.
> 
> I hope you guys like the fic, this is my first fic here on ao3 too, so... Yeah... Enjoy!

Sasuke finished coloring his mother's hair. It was supposed to be black, but he didn’t have a black crayon anymore due to coloring so many pictures of his family members, so his drawing consisted of a small family with dark blue hair.  

“Okasan?"

"Yes Sasuke?" She looked up from her laundry.

"Do you love me?"

Mikoto studied the uchiwa fan on a shirt, then proceeded to fold it and set it on a small pile of folded clothes beside a laundry basket. "Sasuke, I love you so much, so so much, that even when I'm gone and you grow up to be a big boy I'll still keep loving you. You and Itachi."

Sasuke colored a big yellow sun in the corner of the paper, what was supposed to be a dark blue smile turned aqua green by the contrasts between the blue and yellow.  It beamed down on the people in the illustration. "Where will you go?"

The raven haired woman finished folding the shirts. Then, "I'll go somewhere pleasant. You won't be able to follow though, because it's a special place where only a few people go to.”

A nod. "Can I go with you then?"

The woman shook her head. "Nope! You see, you know how otōsan and Itachi go to those special meetings where we can't go? It's a special business meeting like that. It's a reeaally long meeting so you can't follow."

This spiked Sasuke’s curiosity. "What do you do in that meeting?" It had to he something important, if only a select few could go. He wanted to be one of the few too!

"Many things. There will be people in that meeting who I haven't seen in a long time, so I'll see them, but mostly I’ll watch over you and your brother. Part of the meeting.”

"Ah..." A few seconds passed and his eyes widened. "Okasan that's creepy!"

Mikoto looked at her little boy's widened eyes and laughed. "Oh? How so?" She folded some pants.

"Because it's called stalking." He dug through his pencil box for another crayon. "Hinata watches over Naruto a lot behind a tree. Niisan says it's stalking and it's creepy."

Mikoto's eyes glimmered with a hint of sadness at the mention of her late friend's son. "I see… Well, watching over and stalking are two different things darling. Parents watch over their children and siblings watch over each other. This is to ensure that the whole family is protected.”  

This made Sasuke’s heart warm up. Itachi watched over him a lot, and that reminder made him swell with even more love towards his elder brother. He made a mental note of protecting  _him_ next time, as a symbol of his love for him.

Sasuke’s mother continued. “Stalking though, that's… Not very nice. it's not… Well, it is a little creepy.” She watched Sasuke’s face twist in distaste. “But! But… This little girl, Hinata, she doesn't mean any harm I'm sure. As she grows up she'll realize stalking is something wrong and she will stop. But you don't go stalking others okay? Stalking usually hurts people.” Her jovial expression remained, but her voice and gaze became serious. “And if someone is stalking  _ you _ , you need to tell someone trusted immediately okay?”

“Mhm.”

“Alrighty then.” Mikoto chewed her lip nervously, then breathed in deeply. Now, about Naruto. “Is... Naruto, was it?" Of course she knew who Naruto was, but Sasuke didn't know that. This was the first time she asked Sasuke of Naruto.

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. He's a troublemaker and he's always annoying me..."

He paused contemplatively, his coloring slowing down. Sure Naruto could be annoying (correction, VERY annoying), but there was something underlying his pranks that made his delinquencies sound like a loud cry for attention.

"... But he's just lonely. His eyes look sad."

“Hn…” Mikoto's heart ached. So, Kushina's child was lonely. He probably lived alone... There wasn't a day that mikoto didn't regret not taking that child in, but due to unsteady circumstances, that could not be accomplished. "Sasuke, darling? How is Naruto doing?"

Sasuke gave her a funny look.

Mikoto laughed uneasily. "What I mean is, is this classmate of yours okay? Does he look sick or hungry or...?”

"Sasuke gave it some thought. "Mn, nope not really."

This made his mother sigh in relief. Thank goodness. Naruto’s well-being was of great concern to her, but she couldn't ask anyone about him without coming off as ‘suspicious.’ People were already weary of the Uchiha and she had no qualms that if someone were to find out she seeked information on Kushina's child things would get worse.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds,watching Sasuke draw happily. Her thoughts of Naruto got carried away at seeing that bright smile on her son, a smile that always lifted her day… One she always longed to see on Itachi.

And she never will.

Her thoughts wandered off to Itachi. Her whole being hurt especially for him. These last few days she found out about many things she was oblivious of, things that put her eldest son right in the middle of problems somehow assigned to him from birth. She supposed it was destiny, but she refused to accept that such a destiny would befall on her child. It was because of these newly found things that she began to detest Itachi’s prodigious gifts. He was an exceptional young man, knowledgeable and skilled… But at what cost? After what he has planned to do she know’s his heartache will grow, but much as she tried, she couldn't reach him. not anymore.

Sasuke?"

He looked up from his coloring. "Hai?"

"I have a few things to tell you okay? Just listen carefully."

Sasuke grinned. "What is it?"

"You see Sasuke, I'm going to go on a meeting later this week that's going to take a while. It's going to seem like forever but it's not okay?"

Sasuke frowned. "Oh... Why will it seem like forever okasan?"

"Because it's really long. Lots of hours and it's so long that it feels like forever, but it's not forever."

He contemplated this for a bit. It didn't sound like anything different from the meetings his father and niisan went on. Those felt like forever too. "Okay!"

"Alrighty. Listen carefully to what I'll tell you then alright? You see, it's a meeting regarding the Uchiha clan. You're going to have to be a big boy and stay alone until the meeting is over."

“I can do it! I'll watch over the house and when you guys get back it'll be safe!"

A smile spread across her face, one mirroring Sasuke's. "Of course you will! I have faith in you. You're a big boy who is very responsible right?"

"Mhm!"

Okay. Well now, these are the things I want you to do while we're away. First, you have to take care of yourself and be very very strong. Sometimes being alone can be really scary, but never forget that I'll always be protecting you okay? But I need you HERE in order to do so. You got that, darling?"

“Hai!”

“Good. Now the next thing; sometimes Itachi can be really cold towards you, but remember that he's a busy kid, so don't hold it against him. He's a really smart boy too, but sometimes he does really silly things-”

“Aniki does everything perfectly okasan!” That's why he got accepted into the anbu at 13!

Mikoto giggled. “As I was saying, he can do really silly things, but don't hold them against him, no matter how bad they are. Always ALWAYS love him okay?”

She leaned in close to Sasuke and whispered, “Want to know a secret?”

Sasuke covered his mouth, a comically serious expression adopting his face. “What?” He whispered back, uncovering his mouth.

Mikoto ran her slim fingers idly through Sasuke’s bangs. “The reason why Itachi is so strong is because of your love for him.”

Sasuke gasped. “Really?” he breathed.

“Yep! So keep loving him, he would do so much for you Sasuke… Keep loving him.”  _ Keep loving him even when everyone else hates him. Keep loving him for me. _

“I will okasan, I'll love my Aniki forever and ever.”

She smiled softly. “Thank you, Sasuke. Can you promise me you'll do these things?"

"I promise."

Mikoto smiled sadly now.  _ Here goes. _ There's one last thing Sasuke." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Don't forget the Uchiha clan, or your father, or Itachi... Or me... yeah?"

Sasuke shook his head rapidly, a mild look of horror etched on his face. "Okasan I would never!" He fumbled with his hands uneasily. “Why would you think I would forget…”

“I…” She didn't know how to answer. “I… I didn't, Sasuke. I just want you to remember that okay?”

“This sounds like a farewell.”

Mikoto folded the last shirt. She beckoned Sasuke closer and opened her arms in a hug. “Come here dear.”

sasuke crawled over to his mother and gladly accepted the hug, burying his face in her chest and hugging her around the waist. He inhaled her flowery scent and relished in her warmth.

Mikoto hugged him tightly, burying her face in his hair. “We got a little too emotional over me going to a meeting huh, Sasuke? I'm just going away for a while silly, there's no farewell here,” her words came out muffled.

“It's just a ‘see you later.’”




<•>

 

Sasuke and Naruto panted heavily, glaring harshly at the the reflection of the masked boy that surrounded them.

 

Sasuke coughed in between pants. “Naruto…” He swallowed. “Do you think you can do the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu one more time?”

 

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and grinned, though his exhaustion couldn't be hidden. “Yeah!”

No, he couldn't. Sasuke could tell his energy had depleted just like his own.  _ Dobe. _

“Do it again then.”

Naruto grinned even wider. With his hand sign came bursts of smoke, A clone of Naruto in place of them as it dispersed. He said, “Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!”

Sasuke smirked.  _ He made even more clones that the last times, _ he thought.

He followed, his hands going into a flurry of hand seals, ending with the tiger sign. He brought his hand close to his lips, breathing in a large amount of air and exhaling, a ball of fire blooming out. “Katon, goukakyuu No Jutsu!”

Sasuke watched as Haku popped out of an ice mirror to a next one only to diverge clumsily from his path; turned his direction to land in a different ice mirror. The rogue nins attempt to escape the fire was futile. The burn at the corner of his undergarments contrasted obviously against the white.

Sasuke wasn't sure what had happened. He was aware that Haku was weighing his options; he had expected to get assaulted by a flurry of senbon needles, but the needles that he expected to get assaulted with didn't reach him, but rather Naruto, who was unconscious from exertion.

He jumped in recklessly before they landed on the blonde, and, it was silly, but in that small instant when all those senbon pierced him, the random reminder of his mother's alleged meeting all those years ago came to mind.

It was funny, really. Looking back, Sasuke hadn't figured it out as a kid, he was too naïve for that, but his mother knew, she  _ knew  _ her death was going to reach her at the hands of her own son, yet it seemed like it didn't bother her. And so she paid her farewells to Sasuke without even a hint whatsoever that she was going to die, soothing his grief and sorrows before they came. He distinctly remembered her emphasizing that he keep his love for Itachi, no matter what he did.

He had promised her. And, for a while, that promise had been broken the night Itachi decided to massacre his clan. But even so the promise was still prevalent, because for all the hatred Sasuke shouldered towards Itachi, he couldn't hide the fact that the love he had for his brother still burned deeply inside him. maybe that's why every time the hatred for Itachi surged forward it hurt. It  _ hurt _ because he tried so hard, so so hard to hate him but all that came out was love. Pure unconditional love. He learned over the years to confuse that love with hate, so whenever he found himself reminiscing over his love for Itachi l, hatred came forward to confuse him.

That promise was a such a curse.

“Sasuke!... You…”

How timely.

Slowly, Sasuke turned around, but a wave of pain hit him so he stopped. He mustered up all that he had to contort his face into one of cool annoyance. He smirked, but it turned into a grimace. “What kind of expression is that?”

“Why…”

“...”

"Why? Why did you save me?” Naruto stood up. “why!?”

Hn… That's a good question. “I… I don't know.” A choked cough racked Sasuke’s body. “M-my body just… Moved on it's own.”

“I didn't ask for you to save me!”

Sasuke vaguely heard Naruto yelling at him, but the loss of blood fatigued him and he stumbled. He thought he had steadied himself, but he found himself landing on something semi soft. He registered arm wrapping around his head to support it, calloused fingers rough against his cheek. 

Naruto.

He looked up to meet alarmed blue eyes, then closed them and drew in a labored breath. 

“I hated you.” The statement was supposed to have a lot more spite, but now it sounded like like a retelling of an old story that lost it's meaning as time went on.

He continued, recalling Itachi. “T-there’s a man out there… My brother…”

Sasuke knew he was close. Somehow though, he felt relief. He was suddenly very tired, both physically now and tired of just.. Living. Ever since the massacre of his clan, he had been plagued with grief. He had died along with his clans members then too, but a piece of him still lived on. 

It just needed to die so it could be in peace.

“Naruto... Don't let your dream die.”

He closed his eyes, no longer being able to keep them open, and his last conscious thoughts were filled with his mother.

...

...

...

_ I'll see you in the meeting okasan… _

...

...

...

_ Let's watch over Itachi together. _

 

<•>

 

Sasuke pulled away from the hug.“Okasan?”

 

Mikoto smoothed down Sasuke’s hair. “Yes darling?”

 

“I just realized something.”

 

“Hm?”

 

Sasuke gestured towards the neatly folded piles of clothes. “Those clothes are all niisan’s and mine, and most of them don’t fit us. Are they new?”

 

Mikoto nodded. “So they are, Sasuke.”

 

She stood and picked up the empty laundry basket. 

 

“You will both need them when you grow up, so I got them beforehand and washed them so you don't have to go out and buy them.”

 

…

…

…

 

Sasuke looked at the folded piles of clothes blankly.

 

He wouldn't need to go out and buy new clothes for a while. The money he inherited after the Uchiha massacre would suffice just for food and other necessities. 

 

His mother conveniently folded and washed them beforehand.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Please review or leave kudos :) they are much appreciated.


End file.
